Catch of the day: Belgium's plentiful coast

Catch of the day: Belgium's plentiful coast

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Shore thing: traditional shrimp fishing on horseback takes place at low tide, in both summer and winter, at Oostduinkerke

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Shoppers' paradise: the medieval city of Bruges

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Regional speciality: fried fish balls

Every summer, the 70km of beach that make up the Belgian coast are covered by row after row of oiled and sunbathing holidaymakers. But out of season there are the same small towns, the same bars, the same restaurants, the same chocolatiers, the same hotels, the same breweries, the same seafood: the only difference being that you get them all to yourself.

Slip through the Channel Tunnel, turn left and drive for 45 minutes and you’re at De Panne, the southernmost of the 10 towns that run up the coast like a string of pearls. Or you could let the train take the strain and travel to Belgium from St Pancras International.

Either way, Flanders is easier to get to than Cornwall or Edinburgh. The charm of the coast is its variety, each town has its own character. In De Haan you’ll find elegant Belle Époque architecture, Ostend is livelier — it has been welcoming British visitors since the 1800s and there is still a regular direct ferry from Ramsgate — De Panne is largely French speaking, and Middelkerke caters mainly for families.

Check in to one of the many simple and comfortable hotels — the Belle Vue at De Haan is typical, an elegant building, sympathetically renovated, very comfortable — and when you have a base camp established you could either hire bicycles or take the coastal tram.

The tram line is set back from the beach and runs the whole length of the coast, with 70 stops along the way. Wherever you are you will be in the next town in 15 minutes, there’s a good service and the trams run until nearly midnight.

If you ask Belgians what they do for recreation, they look at you rather surprised and answer that they love eating out. For anyone interested in restaurants, Belgium has a great many to offer — from stunning take-away chip shops (frites are taken very seriously here) to smart, classical, three-Michelin starred restaurants that take a pride in serving local produce.

For a winning combination of a great terrace overlooking the sea and simple but good fish, try the Aguadelmar at Ostend — the shrimp croquettes are outstanding. Or try a restaurant such as Apropos in Koksijde, with a menu that changes with the seasons and the kind of cuisine we class as French — langoustines, lobster and turbot.

In De Panne is Le Fox, a two-Michelin starred restaurant where Stephane Buyens is cooking up a storm — fresh local produce meets real talent. Note the cheese trolley with 50 Belgian cheeses, most of which are excellent.

Towards the southern end of the coast is Oostduinkerke, home of the “peerdevisschers” — shrimp fishermen on horseback. Sturdy Brabant horses pull the nets through the shallows at low tide before the little grey shrimps are taken back to the fishermen’s clubhouse — the “Estaminet de peerdevisschers” — where they are promptly boiled in fresh water.

The fishermen maintain that trawler- caught shrimp are inferior because they are cooked in sea water but it’s hard to tell the difference as they are both magnificent — the shrimps may be fiddly to peel but a joy to eat.

While in Belgium you have to try a beer or two — in Middelkerke (jammed with families in the summer but crowd-free off-season) you’ll find a bar called Del Toogoloog. It has a beer for every occasion, and the list features some 400 different options — differing strengths, colours, ages and prices.

There’s plenty of good eating and drinking to be done on the coast but you should save a day for the medieval city of Bruges, which lies just inland.

Bruges is a shoppers’ paradise. There’s an outstanding deli (sausages and cheese) called Diksmuids Boterhuis, or you could do a “choco-crawl” simply wandering and sampling your way around all the chocolate shops. The best is called BbyB, a stylish and modern shop with dazzling, simple chocolates with intense flavours — try the passion fruit, or the coffee and salt caramel. Then there’s the amazing Temple to Beer, which unsurprisingly has a vast range of bottled beers and specialist badged glasses.

For lunch in Bruges the Refter Bistrot is the less formal second-string restaurant of the three-Michelin starred restaurant Karmeliet. Good cooking and steady pricing. You should also take the tour at the Halve Maan. This is the last brewery in Bruges and the tour guide is both funny and irreverent. Afterwards you get to sample the beer.

Out-of-season breaksters who want to walk along the beaches or in the sand dunes of West Flanders will be happy Sea and enjoying the peaceful gun-metal grey-blue water as it catches the spring or autumn light.

Anyone who enjoys good food will be happy hopping on and off the tram as they explore the array of different bars and restaurants.

There really is something for everyone — Ostend even has a special guided trip entitled The Marvin G aye Midnight Love Tour. Apparently the great man spent the last two years of his life in Ostend, and you can see the block of flats where he composed Sexual Healing — just the thing to stimulate the appetite for a beer and some grey shrimps.

DETAILS: BELGIUM

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